Apparatus for holding and delivering tickets.



No. 64|,65|. Patented .Ian. 16, I900. w. H. SNOWMAN.

APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DELIVERING TICKETS.

(Application filed Dec. 17, 189B.)

(No Model.)

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY.

THE cams warms co. PNuTo-uwa. WASHINUTUN. n. c.

Patented Ian. I6, I900.

W. H. SNOWMAN. APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DELIVERING TICKETS.

(Application filed Dec. 17, 1898.)

2 Shee'ts-Shee't 2 (NoModeL) INVENTOR W 6 Jho'uhnwu) ATTORNEY.

KdW/f am WITNESSES:

'WILLIAM H. SNOWMAN, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ALBERT N.SOUTHWIOK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DELIVERING TICKETS;

srncrrrcArroir forming part of Letters Patent No. 6 1,651, dated. Januar16, 1966.

Application filed December 17,1898. Serial No. 699,591. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. SNOWMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatusfor Holding and Delivering Strip Tickets or Checks, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference bein g had to the accompanyingdrawings, for1ning a part of the same.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for holding and deliveringa long strip or ribbon composed of several individual tickets or checkswhich can be readily detached from the strip and handed to purchasers ofgoods or other customers to indicate their indebtedness to theestablishment issuing the tickets, and the invention is especiallyadapted for use in restaurants, hotels, and retail stores where waitersor salesmen and cashiers are employed.

The long strip (hereinafter called strip or strip tickets or checks) maybe composed of any number of individual tickets or checks whichconveniently can be contained and operated in the apparatus, and theapparatus may be of such size and shape as will best adapt it to thespecial uses intended.

Heretofore it has been the practice to intrust waiters or salesmen witha number of separate tickets or checks to be handed to customers toindicate by marks or otherwise their indebtedness to the establishment.These separate tickets or checks have been prepared and used in avariety of ways to impose the desired restraint or check upon the personto whom they are intrusted. Sometimes they have been prepared with stubsand have been assembled according to their consecutive numbers andlocked in a case, from which the tickets can be separated, leaving thestubs in the case. In attempting to carry out this plan mistakes areliable to occur whereby some of the consecutively-numbered tickets areleft out of the assembled mass or are misplaced therein, and this causesconfusion and trouble in imposing the proper obligation upon and inmaking the desired settlement with those to whom the tickets areintrusted.

- It is the object of the present invention to obviate the defects andannoyances incident to the use of separate tickets or checks for thepurposes indicated and to provide an apparatus in which a large numberof tickets or checks attached to each other can be con tained and fromwhich they can be delivered in the exact order of their numbers withoutany liability of mistake.

To this end. the invention consists, stated generally, in the severalfeatures and devices of construction and the combination of devices ofan apparatus adapted to contain a long strip or ribbon composed ofindividual tickets or checks and from which the individual tickets canbe readily delivered and separated for use, all as hereinafter morefully described and claimed.

A form of apparatus embodying my improvements is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal centralsection through the line X X of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is the same as Fig. 1,except that the printing-belts and inking-roll are shown in diiferentpositions in the two figures. Fig. 3-is a transverse section along theline Y Y of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the strip ticketsor checks wound upon a spool. Figs. 5, 6, and 7, respectively, are edge,end, an d plan views of a sliding piece located and operating at thedelivery end of the apparatus. Figs, 8 and 9, respectively, are plan andedge views of a detent or stop-pin to enter perforations in the strip.-Figs. 10, 11, and 12, respectively, are edge, end, and plan views of aguide for the strip. Figs. 13,14, and 15, respectively, are edge, end,and plan views of the holder for the printing-belt spools. Fig. 16 is aView in perspective of a portion of the apparatus to show the cut-awaypart of the case and the tearing edge at the delivery-point, and Figs.17 and 18 are views in plan and elevation of the inking-roll and itsattachments.

In the form of apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings, Brepresents a holder or case, which may be made of sheet metal, hardrubber, or any other suitable material, and its interior depth orthickness is preferably slightly greater than the Width of the strip tobe used therein. The case is provided with a coveror lid 0, which can beopened to introduce the strip in place and when closed preferably can besecured by any suitable locking device, as D. \Vithin the case and nearits side edge E is located a guide F, extending toward thedelivery-point G of the apparatus and forming, with the edge E, aguideway or passage H for the advance end of the strip. A piece I,convenientlysecured to the guide F, forms a way J, in which a slide Kcan reciprocate to and from the delivery G, the guide and its attachmentbeing secured to the casein any suitable way, as by screws a, passingthrough lugs b andinto the side wall of the case. The plate E, formingthe edge of the case, is cut away at L to a snflicient distance back ofthe delivery G to uncover and expose to view the advance end of thestrip and the marks thereon when it reaches this point and to enable itto be reached by the finger or thumb of the user. The slide K isprovided at its outer end with a presser-plate M to receive the pushfrom the finger or thumb of the user to force the slide inwardly anduncover the inner surface of the advance end of the strip, by which, inconjunction with the cut-away portion at L, the end of the strip can beeasily grasped between the finger and thumb of the user and drawnforward and beyond the delivery G. The slide K is moved back to itsnormal position by the expansion of a spring N, located between theslide and the guide F and having one of its ends abutting a shouldercandits other end secured to the guide-plate F. At the delivery-point of theapparatus in the construction shown in the drawings the edge of the endof the slide K when in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 16, is inthe same plane with the adjacent ends (1 d of the plate 0 of the case,thus forming, substantially, a continuous edge P, arranged at rightangles to the direction of the movement of the strip and slightly longerthan its width and upon which, by the proper movement of the hand whichgrasps the strip, it can be forced and the projecting part easily tornfrom its main portion.

To provide for positively regulating the length of the strip to be drawnfrom the'delivery-point of the apparatus at a single advance movement,the construction shown in the drawings provides a detent Q, arranged tobe brought into contact with the strip and stop its advance. This detentor stop-pin, as shown, is attached to a finger or piece 6, which issecured to the piece I in any suitable way, so that the detent will inits normal position rest upon the surface of the strip as it is advancedand at the desired times will come into such engagement with it as tostop its advance. The desired pressure of the detent upon the strip maybe given by any of the well-known means, as by making the finger e ofspring metal and rigidly connecting it to some fixed part or bypivotally mounting it, as shown in the drawings, and

controlling it by a spring 6 or equivalent de* vice. The detent isconveniently brought out of contact with the strip to permit its advanceby the inward movement of the slide K, whose end is arranged to contactwith an inclined shoulder f on the finger e, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, and8 of the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, the detent is passed through ahole in the guide F, through a perforation in the strip, and through ahole in the case, while in Fig. 2 it is shown as forced out of contactwith the strip by the inward movement of the slide K. v

The construction and arrangement of the parts thus far described aresuch that when the strip is placed in the case and its advance end isthreaded through the passage H and brought to the delivery-point G theinward movement of the slide K will uncover the end of the strip andenable the operator to grasp it between his finger and thumb and will atthe same time force the detent Q out of contact with the strip, leavingit free to be advanced, and when the slide K moves back to its normalposition under the stress of its spring N the detent will be forced intocontact with the strip in position to come into stopping engagementtherewith, as by entering a perforation therein, and the portion of thestrip, forming a single check or ticket, which has been advanced beyondthe delivery-point G can be torn off along the tearing edge P.

It is desirable that each individual ticket of the strip should beprinted with the month and the day of the month on which it is deliveredto a customer, and for this purpose a printing device is provided in theform of apparatus shown in the drawings, a description of which is asfollows:

Two endless belts (designated by the numerals 1 and 2) provided withprinting-type, one having type for printing the months of the year andthe other for printing the days of the month, are passed around spools 3and 4 on spindles 5 and 6, which are rigidly connected together by abase-plate 7, arranged to reciprocate in a way 8 to and from aprintingbed 9, the base-plate 7 being held in the way bya superposedplate 10. An inking-roll 11, provided with felt or other ink-absorbingmaterial, is loosely pivoted through its hanger 12 to the spindle oflower spool 3, so that in its normal position the roll will be incontact with the type of the printing-belts and will be located betweensuch belts and the printingbed 9,. The hanger 12 is provided with aprojection 13, so arranged in relation to a fixed pin 14 that when thebelts are moved toward the printing-bed 9 the inking-roll will bedeflected laterally from the path of the belts, as seen in Fig. 2, andthe belts be free to move against the strip to print it while it restsupon the printing-bed. Convenient devices for reciprocating theprinting-belts are shown in the drawings, the belts being moved towardthe printing-bed by the contact of a projection 15, attached to theslide K, with the free end of one arm 16 of a bell-crank lever 17, whichis pivotally connected to spindle 18 of strip-spool 19, while its otherarm 20 is connected through a slot 21 with a pin 22, fixed in thesliding base-plate 7. The arm 16 is retained in the desired positionduring its movements by passing between guide-pieces 16', attached tothe wall of the case. The reverse movement of the printing-belts isgiven by the expansion of a spring 23, secured to spindle 18 and havingone of its ends secured to the lever-arm 20 and its opposite end to afixed pin 24. The inking-roll 11 is swung back to its normal position bythe expansion of spring 25, passing around spindle 6 of lower belt-spool3 and having one of its ends attached to hanger 12 and its other end toa pin 26, fixed in the base-plate 7.

By the use of the devices thus described the desired impressions can beprinted upon the individual tickets of the strip while the strip isstationary and while the slide K is being pushed inwardly to uncover theadvance end of the strip, so that it can be grasped by the operator, andthe printing-belts will be moved back from the strip as soon as thebackward movement of the slide begins and before the strip is advanced.The belt-spools preferably fit so tightly on their spindles that they donot rotate thereon in the operation of printing, so that when thedesired type is arranged the printing can be continued during the day,and then by turning the spools by hand or by slipping the belts on thespools the desired arrangement of type for the next days printingcan bemade.

Fig. 4: of the drawings shows a long strip X, wound upon a spool 19, thestrip being made up of a number of individual checks or tickets Y andadapted for use in the apparatus hereinbefore described, and shown inthedrawings. The strip is provided with a series of perforations 29,located at the dividingline of the individual tickets and in a lineparallel with the edges of the strip, and they are of such size andshape that the detent Q can readily enter them. The individual ticketsof the strip are preferably numbered consecutively, as 203, 204, 205,&c., and each is preferably designated by the same mark, as the letterA, to connect or identify all of the tickets of the strip with somespecial person to whom they may be intrusted for delivery to customers.As seen in the drawings, each ticket is numbered with the figure 5 andconsecutive multiples thereof up to to afford easy means of indicatingthe indebtedness of a customer, which may be done by erasing, bypunching out, or otherwise, the figures indicating such indebtedncss,orby erasing all the figures except those indicating such indebtedness.It is not essential that the perforations p be located at thedividing-line of the individual tickets, as the operation of the stripin the apparatus described and its delivery therefrom will not bematerially afiected by a change in the position of the perforationsalong the length or width of the strip, provided they are located atdistances apart equal to the length of the individual tickets and thatthe position of the detent Q be such that it will operate to stop theadvance of the strip when its advance end has reached the length ofanindividual ticket beyond the delivery-point or tearing edge P.

It is observed that it is not intended to limit this invention to anapparatus having all the features of construction herein set forth, orshown in the drawings, as it is evident that many of the parts may beomitted and the apparatus be capable of efficient use for holding anddelivering strip tickets or checks. For instance, the printing devicesmay be omitted without materially affecting the operativeness of theremaining parts. Also the detent device and the perforation in the stripmay be omitted without materially affecting the operation of thefeatures and device for uncovering the advance end of the strip and thetearing edge located at the delivery-point, in which case the operatorcan determine by looking when the dividing-line of the tickets isbrought to register with the tearing edge. Neither is it intended tolimit the invention to the special constructions of all the partshereinbefore described and shown, as it is evident that many of theparts can be of diferent construction without essentially departing fromthe principle of the invention.

What is claimed as new is 1. In an apparatus for holding and deliver ingstrip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, ofa device constructed and arranged to positively engage the strip andstop its advance when its forward end has reached the length of anindividual ticket from the delivery-point of the apparatus, means foroperating such device to bring it into stopping engagement with thestripand means to withdraw it from such stopping engagementto permit afurther advance of the strip.

2. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks,the combination substantially as set forth, of a detent, as Q,constructed and arranged to enter perforations in the strip whosedistances apart are equal to the length of the individual tickets, meansfor operating such detent to cause it to enter perforations and stop theadvance of the strip and means to withdraw the detent therefrom topermit its further advance.

3. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks,the combination substantially as set forth, of a spring-actuated stop ordetent constructed and operating to engage the strip and stop itsadvance when its forward end has reached the length of an individualticket from the delivery-point of the apparatus, and a spring-actuatedslide constructed and arranged to withdraw the detent from its stoppingengagement with the strip by its inward movement and to be restored toits outward 'position by its spring.

4. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks,the combination substantially as set forth, of a slide whose outer endis provided with a presser-plate, as M, and a tearing edge, as P,normally at the delivery-point of the apparatus, a device constructedand operating to engage the strip and stop its advance, means forengaging the slide when pressed inwardly with the stopping device andmeans, as spring N, for giving an outward movement to the slide, wherebythe forward end of the strip is uncovered, the stopping device withdrawnfrom stopping engagement with the strip and the tearing edge broughtinto operative position at the delivery-point of the apparatus.

5. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks,the combination substantially as set forth, of a slide, as K, whoseouter end is provided with a presserplate, as M, and a tearing edge, asP, and a stop constructed and operating to engage the strip and stop itsadvance and provided with a shoulder or incline as f, against which theinner end of the slide engages, when moved inwardly, to withdraw thestop from engagement with the strip, and means, as spring N, for movingthe slide outwardly to its normal position.

6. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks,the combination substantially as set forth, of means for exposing theforward end of the strip whereby it can be grasped by the hand of theoperator, consisting of a cutaway portion of the case on one side of thestrip at the delivery-point and a slide arranged upon the other side ofthe strip, means for stopping the advance of the strip when its forwardend has reached the length of an individual ticket from the deliverypoint of the apparatus, consisting in a device constructed and operatingto positively engage the strip, and means to with draw such device fromits stopping engagement by the inward movement of the slide. 7. In anapparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, thecombination substantially as set forth, of a stop or detent, as Q, meansfor bringing the detent into stopping engagement with the strip when ithas advanced the length of an individual ticket from the delivery-pointof the apparatus, a slide, as K, operating to withdraw the detent fromsuch stopping engagement, a device for printing upon the strip, and asuitable connection between the detent-withdraw ing slide and theprinting device, whereby the movement of the slide brings the printingdevice into printing connection with the strip.

8. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks,the combination substantially as set forth, of a reciprocating printingdevice, a slide for uncovering the ends of the strip-tickets, aprojection on such slide and a bell-crank lever arranged to reciprocatethe printing device in one direction through its contact with theprojection on the slide, for the purpose of bringing the typebelt incontact with the strip as it rests on the printing-bed.

XVILLIAM H. SNOWMAN.

\Vitnesses:

J EssIE B. KAY, JAMEs N. HARLOW.

